Truck Strikes, Kills S.F. Pedestrian, 80

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Friday, September 12, 1997

1997-09-12 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- An elderly pedestrian was struck and killed yesterday morning by a big-rig truck whose driver did not see the small woman as she tried to cross 19th Avenue in San Francisco's Sunset District, police said.

Shui Kwan Ng, an 80-year-old San Francisco woman on her way to church, was in a crosswalk heading west on Judah Street about 8:35 a.m. when she was run over by the wheels of a Peterbilt tractor-trailer, authorities said.

The driver told police the truck hood blocked his view of Ng, who started walking with her cane on a green light. But she was caught in the middle of the street when the light turned red.

Ng died instantly. Her cane and purse were found lying in the street.

"It's just one of those tragic situations," said traffic officer John Fulwood. "He didn't see the woman, and she didn't realize he was moving."

The driver, Daniel Eugene Mowery, 41, of Buena Park stopped after the collision and was interviewed by police. He was not cited in the crash pending an ongoing investigation.

Mowery was delivering sand and gravel from Paso Robles to Petaluma and had planned to take Interstate 880 before crossing the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, said Inspector Michael Mahoney.

But because of the BART strike and traffic in the East Bay, a fellow truck driver recommended a route through San Francisco, Mahoney said.

The accident underscored the dangers many pedestrians face while negotiating 19th Avenue, one of the city's few thoroughfares that are accessible to big-rig trucks.

Police said road construction was not a factor in the crash but that heavy traffic on 19th Avenue had forced Mowery to sit through a green light at Judah.

Mowery has worked for West Coast Sand and Gravel in Orange County for the last three years and has been driving trucks for 15 years, said vice president Robert Struiksma.

"He was very upset, to the point that we don't want him to drive, at least until he calms down," Struiksma said.

Police said Mowery willingly submitted to a blood test, but there was no initial evidence that he had been driving while impaired.

The accident evoked memories of another fatal collision on another large thoroughfare. A year ago, a flatbed truck driver apparently ran a red light at Park Presidio Drive and Lake Avenue, plowing into a bicyclist.